Angels’ Tyler Anderson gets no support again in loss to Brewers

ANAHEIM — Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson added another strong outing to his 2024 resume. He held the Milwaukee Brewers to just one run in seven innings on Wednesday night, but it wasn’t enough.

The Angels again failed to garner the kind of offensive production needed to back up their pitching and lost, 2-0, in a pitchers’ duel between the starters at Angel Stadium.

Anderson (6-7) held his opponents to one run for the sixth time in his last seven starts but lost for the third time in that stretch. The veteran lefty allowed four hits and three walks, striking out five.

The Brewers’ Freddy Peralta held the Angels scoreless on three hits through six innings. He struck out eight and walked two.

“That’s what it was, a pitchers’ duel,” Manager Ron Washington said. “They got a sac fly in the first inning when TA (Anderson) walked two in that inning and they ended up getting a sac fly, but after that, he really settled down and spotted his fastball.

“He kept them off the barrel. He was working fast. He was very efficient. I just feel that he didn’t get a chance to win that ballgame.”

The Brewers got to Angels reliever Luis Garcia for a second run in the eighth, scoring on an RBI single by Willy Adames.

The Brewers scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Rhys Hoskins in the first inning, giving Peralta (5-4) a slim cushion to work with, but it was enough for the victory as the Brewers took two of the three games in the series.

Although he walked two and wasn’t particularly efficient, Peralta repeatedly escaped trouble. The Angels got two runners into scoring position in the sixth, but Peralta retired Logan O’Hoppe on a hot grounder up the middle with his final pitch.

“They (Angels hitters) weren’t as efficient as I would have liked to have seen, but then again Peralta isn’t just some run-of-the-mill-type pitcher,” Washington said. “This guy has weapons. He’s got a pretty good fastball and every now and then you can spot it. He knows what he’s doing out there.”

Anderson said he has seen Peralta’s work plenty of times in his career and he always comes away impressed with the 28-year-old right-hander.

“I feel that every time I see him pitch against my team, he pitches really, really well,” Anderson said. “He’s probably pitching better than his numbers say; he’s pitching well overall. He had a great one tonight. He’s tough. He has a really good fast ball and guys have trouble hitting it.”

It wasn’t just Peralta who the Angels had trouble hitting. They scored in only one of their last 22 innings against Milwaukee.

The Angels nearly got on the board again in the eighth when Taylor Ward missed out on another potential home run. Like the previous night, he blasted a shot to center field and Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick again was there in time for the run-saving catch.

“Last night, we didn’t have much offense either and then we had a big ninth inning and I was hoping we would have the same thing,” Anderson said. “Not for me, but for the other guys; they are the ones out there grinding and battling.”

Washington gave O’Hoppe the day off from working behind the plate but kept him in the lineup as the designated hitter. He is the team’s best available hitter with a .280 batting average coming into the game.

“He’s one of our hot bats and that’s why I did it,” Washington said. “Because if I wouldn’t have put him or taken him out of the lineup, y’all probably would see holes in the walls around here.

“So, I wanted to have (back-up catcher Matt) Thaiss in there and I decided I would put him (O’Hoppe) in the DH hole and keep his bat in there.”

While it was a sound idea, the results weren’t there. O’Hoppe went 0 for 4, striking out three times.

O’Hoppe wasn’t the only Angels batter struggling offensively. After failing to score in the final four innings Monday, the Angels posted three runs in the ninth Tuesday and none against the trio of Brewers pitchers Wednesday.

Bryan Hudson pitched two innings of relief before Huntington Beach native Trevor Megill (Marina High) finished Milwaukee’s four-hitter with his 15th save.